In this story the focus is mostly on Will (aka Coach) who is Naomi’s best friend, Ace who is her boyfriend, James who is the bad boy, and Naomi’s dad. As Naomi tries to reconstruct the past four years of her life, she finds that she didn’t necessarily like the person that she was. As a reader, I find that I didn’t particularly like the person Naomi was before the accident. She is portrayed as a spoiled popular girl who is primarily focused on herself. Since her accident, Naomi has essentially become the opposite. Since her last memories were of sixth grade, she is amazed at how much has changed in the interim. Her mother is remarried with a daughter (when did her folks get divorced?), her dad has a girlfriend (does Naomi like her or not), she is dating the athlete (really, what did she see in him), and what exactly is her relationship to her best friend, Will. As we go with Naomi on this journey, we learn along with her what type of girl she was and what type of girl she wants to be.

This was a good YA book. The title immediately caught my attention and drew me in. Ms. Zevin does a good job with her characters and capturing what it might be like as a teenager in high school. There were a couple of moments that were a little far-fetched such as when Naomi is left on a beach for 5 hours without any idea when her boyfriend (who said he would be back in an hour) will return. When he does, she isn’t mad. I don’t know many people who wouldn’t be furious if that happened to them.

Overall this was a fun read. I felt that the author did a good job and that teens and adults alike would enjoy this story.